Love, Tiebreaks, and Second Serves
by Reinuta
Summary: "Did you find it?" She called out, shoving tree branches from her face. Of course it would be her to hit the tennis ball so embarrassingly off. She never did receive a reply. ONE SHOTS/READER'S CHOICE.
1. Introduction

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **Please read all of the following. :) Thank you.

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**LOVE, TIEBREAKS, AND SECOND SERVES**

**INTRODUCTION**

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**Summery: **_"Did you find it?" She called out, shoving tree branches from her face. Of course it would be her to hit the tennis ball so embarrassingly off. "It's not here." She never did receive a reply._

She was never able to forget that fateful day of her childhood. And ever since then, Akiyama Kimiko has been searching for that boy who disappeared so mysteriously. Will she ever have that reunion she sees in her dreams? Or will _he _along with her happy ending fade from her memories forever?

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**Love, Tiebreaks, and Second Serves will be a special sort of story.**

**It will be a collection of ONE SHOTS with the princes of your request.**

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**It will tell slices of Akiyama Kimiko's third and final year of middle school. And finally, after graduation, I'll ask who your favorite ONE SHOT was and write an ending for them. And possibly the next two runner-ups.**

**How many ONE SHOTS and requests I take will _depend on the sort of response I get from this_. So if you think it'll be interesting please leave a comment and let me know.**

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**** After this, I will be uploading the prologue, aka, a flashback from Kimiko's childhood. That's when you'll be able to submit a request for your favorite prince.**

**I'm not sure how this will go over so like I said, depending on the response I get will determine how far I go with it.**

**Thank you for reading! And I hope you'll like the stories to come!**

**Love, r.**


	2. Prologue

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **As promised, here is the prologue to the upcoming one shots. Enjoy. :)

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**LOVE, TIEBREAKS, AND SECOND SERVES**

**PROLOGUE**

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_"Kimiko! I have to run to the market! Be good while I'm gone and don't get into trouble."_

_A young girl peeked down the stairs at her mother who was adjusting the strap of her purse over her shoulder. Her large, hazel eyes widened as she rushed down the steps and grabbed a handful of the woman's skirts. "Can I come with you? Please, pretty please?"_

_"It'll be easier and quicker if I go alone." When she saw Kimiko's disappointed face she bent down so she was on her daughter's eye level and twirled a strand of her brunette locks. "Hey, now, how about I get you something special at the market. And while I'm gone you can go to the park and play some tennis."_

_At this, Kimiko looked up at her mother, a smile breaking through the corners of her mouth. "Okay!"_

_Her mother stood up now, seeing that her daughter was fine. "Yes. But you must promise me you won't talk to strangers and be very, very careful." She wagged a finger at the young girl to make her point absolutely clear._

_"Promise!" Kimiko exclaimed, throwing a fist into the air as if she'd just accepted the greatest, most honorable quest._

_"Good girl. Have fun and stay out of trouble then." She waved goodbye, blew a kiss, and was off._

_As soon as the door closed, Kimiko rushed up the stairs and into her room. She quickly changed her clothes and combed her hair up into a ponytail. She scavenged around in her closet until she found her tennis racquet and a can of tennis balls and ran back downstairs._

_"I'll be back later!" She called to no one in particular and hopped outside. The door swung shut behind her._

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_Kimiko skipped the whole distance between her house and the park, happily humming. However, as the it came into view, she slowed down and became silent. Her racquet hung limply at her side and a rather confused look surfaced._

_"Nobody's here?…" The park was almost never empty so it was a surprise to see it so quiet and still. Kimiko's look of confusion soon changed into one of disappointment. Her lips curled up into a pout as she walked over to the hitting wall. It was less fun hitting alone but she would have to make do._

_Kimiko opened her can of balls and bounced one experimentally on the court. She hit it only a couple times against the wall before missing. She watched it roll into the grass with a frown._

_Okay. So she wasn't the best. But at least when you were hitting with a friend you could laugh it off and still have fun. Being alone like this and missing? Well, it was only making her frustrated._

_She slid another tennis ball from the can and gave it another go. But, like the last, after just a couple hits, the ball whizzed past so fast she couldn't even react. She huffed irritably and grabbed the last ball from her can. But by now, she was pretty miffed. She whacked at the ball with all she had, expecting to miss._

_The ball went flying. Over the wall._

_Kimiko tossed her racquet over into the grass and threw her hands up into the air. "Oh, so now I hit it!" She exclaimed. She jogged over to the other side of the hitting wall, feeling ready to call it quits. She searched the ground for her ball. "Now where did it go?…"_

_"Wow, you're really bad."_

_"Ah!" Kimiko jumped a few feet back and jerked her head up to identify the voice._

_A boy around her age stood a few yards away. He held a tennis ball and tossed it lightly into the air before catching it with a flick of his wrist. "Lose this?" He held it out to her and she ran up and snatched it from his hand._

_"I didn't _lose _it." Kimiko said snippily and turned her cheek to the boy. "And who are you to tell me I'm bad? I doubt you can do any better."_

_The boy laughed. He picked up his bag that was resting at his feet and slung it over his shoulder. "Better? I can do more than that in my sleep!"_

He plays tennis_. Kimiko thought briefly. _Maybe he would play with me?_ She quickly set the idea aside and turned her nose up. "Don't you know that's no way to talk to a girl?"_

_The boy tilted rested his chin in his palm in thought for a moment. "You're right. A real gentleman would offer to play with you and give you some pointers along the way." He smiled. "So, will you?"_

_Kimiko's anger was fading fast, she even felt a slight blush cover her cheeks and her stomach did a small flip at the sight of this boy's sweet smile. She did her best to retain an annoyed expression and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not supposed to play with strangers." Although she was sure this wasn't what her mother had in mind, there was no reason he had to know that._

_His smile didn't falter and he scratched the back of his head. "Stranger? But I know who you are."_

_Kimiko looked puzzled for a second. "What? I've never seen you before today."_

_The boy lifted a hand in a gesture of defeat. "You don't recognize me?" When he received no answer he shrugged his shoulders and grinned once more. "Hm. Oh well… So, should we move to the court?" He quickly changed the topic._

_By now, Kimiko's will had completely given in to him and she nodded anxiously._

_"Then you might want to pick those up." He chuckled, pointing to her racquet and tennis balls resting in the grass._

_Again, Kimiko felt her cheeks redden as she rushed over and collected her things. Once her hands were full, the boy had already opened the fence and was setting his bag down on the court, pulling out his racquet and spinning it a few times in the palm of his hand._

_She hurried over to her service court, gripping her racquet rather tightly in anticipation._

_The boy tapped his shoulder with the head of his racquet. "Well, why don't you start since you've already got those balls ready."_

_"Um, sure." She decided it would be safest if she drop served the ball to begin with. So she dropped it, and served it. All the way to the opposite side of the court that the boy was standing on._

_He stood up from his ready position, walked over to the ball, and picked it up, something like a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Hey, hey, just who were you hitting that to?" He joked._

_Kimiko was hot with embarrassment. "Well if it's no good just call it out and go hit by yourself!"_

_"Woah! That's not what I meant." He softly hit the ball back to her and resumed his position. "Try it again, don't think too hard about it."_

_Kimiko gulped and tried again. However, she was focusing so hard on trying not to focus too hard that she merely tapped the ball and it just barely cleared the net. Well, at least it landed on the correct side of the court._

_"Aah…here." The boy walked up to her, hopping the net and grabbing the tennis ball on the way. Kimiko watched him nervously and gripped her racquet hard with both hands. He moved behind her and slipped his own racquet under his arm as he helpfully replaced her hands on hers. "There. You should hold it like that. And don't squeeze so tightly. If you relax your hold your control will improve. Got it?"_

_Kimiko nodded, blushing for the third time that afternoon. "I'll try my best."_

_He ran back over to his side of the court. "I'll start this time." He said and gently hit the ball straight for her._

_Surprising herself, Kimiko returned the ball successfully to him. The boy grinned. "Good! Now be ready and have your racquet back well before you hit it."_

_The afternoon continued like that and Kimiko found herself enjoying it thoroughly. She began to get a little excited and when another ball came towards her, she squealed and whacked at hit, sending straight down into her own court. "Haha, whoops."_

_The boy waved at her. "When that happens you need to tilt your racquet head up. That way you can avoid hitting it into the ground like that."_

_"Okay." She nodded and tried once more, tilting her racquet up like he suggested. And…_

_A home run. The ball flew over the fence and out of sight._

_The young boy rubbed his forehead. "That may have been a little too much." He observed, quite unnecessarily._

_Kimiko looked away sheepishly and ran off the courts in the direction the ball had flown. "I'll find it." She mumbled. She only had three balls and it would be bad to lose one. Plus, she couldn't well look him in the face after that slip._

_"I'll help." The boy called and followed after her._

_The moved down an incline and into some forest area and undergrowth that grew behind the court. It was dense with small trees and bushes but not impossible to traverse._

_"I'll look over here." Kimiko said and they parted in opposite directions. Of course it would be her to hit the tennis ball so embarrassingly off. And now it was her fault she had both of them searching the woods for a tennis ball they most likely wouldn't find._

_After a few minutes of searching, Kimiko decided that it had been enough and began to make her way out of the undergrowth. "Did you find it?" She called out, shoving tree branches from her face and carefully stepping over rocks and twigs._

_She broke free of the forest and looked around. The boy was nowhere to be seen. "Hello? I don't think it fell this way!" When she received no answer still she ran back up the incline and to the court. The spot where the boys tennis bag had been was now empty. It was as if he'd never even been there._

_During the time she was looking for her lost tennis ball, the boy had mysteriously disappeared._

_"Hey, this isn't funny! You better come out right now." Although in all reality, she knew he wouldn't. Suddenly, Kimiko felt very foolish. She had felt a special kind of connection when they had been hitting but she let herself be taken in too easily._

_Even more foolishly, she realized she didn't even know his name._

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_"Kimiko!"_

_Kimiko looked up to see her mother rushing towards her. She sat up and hugged her racquet against her chest._

_"Kimiko! What are you still doing here? I was getting so worried!" She ran into the court and gave her daughter a hug. Then she noticed the cheeks stained with tears and immediately became concerned. "What's wrong?" She exclaimed._

_"I lost a tennis ball."_

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: Thank you very much for reading! I hope you'll review and let me know what you think. :D

**So I've decided that for every THREE one shots I write, I'll write one ending for the one that ends up being the most popular, aka, the one that recieves the most reviews. Or perhaps I'll hold a poll. I haven't decided. **

**Once again, this is something new I want to try and who knows if I'll even reach three, depending on the kind of response I receive.**

**YOU MAY NOW SUBMIT YOUR REQUESTS. Keep in mind that characters from Seigaku, Hyoutei, Rikkai, the better known schools, are more likely to be chosen than those from the more obscure ones like Rokkaku or Shitenhouji. But of course, it all depends on the character, so have fun with it!**

Cheerfully, r.


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